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l,*'d' ".* .- r ^M" a e r \ us $s.9s cAN $s.9s wwwlivingblues.com llllillllilllllillfllll liltil RffiXffi& *xKX$ lssue# 2O9 Robert Cray StiC llookin'... u/ ...14 rvrdrNLoilrorr66 Fornearly 25yearsRobert Crayhasbeena bonafidebluessuper star. On the nightbefore he recorded hislatestrelease, Cooftin'In Mobile, we satdownwith theguitarist fora long-overdue intervrew. DaddyMackOrr A T i m e F o r E v e r y t h i.n.g . . . . . . 26 B y M e l a n i eY o u n g Coodthingscometo thosethat wait-at leastsometimes. Memphis bluesman DaddyMackOrr didn'tpickup the guitaruntil he was45 yearsold, but he took to it fast.Now with his fourthrelease, he is poisedto breakonto the nationalscene. Hosea Hargrove SingThoseLowBlues 32 By RogerCatchet Austinbluesman Hosea Hargrove chronicles his8l years of lifeand p l a y i ntgh eb l u e s . Reverend KMWilliams Honest&Funky ..35 By RogerCatchet Mixingrawbluesandgospel, KMWilliams is satisfying a calling from Codto playmusic. Theordained minjster andprolific recording artist hasdeveloped a soundthattrulyis honest andfunky. In Search Of Charley Patton. . .72 ByTerryBarkley CharleyPatton's lifeand deathhavebeenresearched for decades, but the storyof one of the truepioneers of Deltabluesremains a mystery. RecordReviews ....42 New releases: CharlieMusselwhite, KennyNeal,and MavisStaples. .38 Reissues from:JimmyDawkins,Lightnin'Hopkins,and Document Records . .69 Editorial ....2 Letters .....3 BluesNews ......5 Breakin Ogu t .Ms.N i ckki . . . . . . .9 LostBlues Files: Charlie Whitehead . . . . 12 InTheCroove ....54 Obituaries. .. ...76 R a dC i oh a r t. s. . .... ..80 by MarkCamarigg ffi t l lrs Iti tsfr * a-*. f L T# 4 ff fir rhln ffi& $[l , fl'ilf,.i'J;:iilT:::. of his aftertherelease #23justmonths whichestablished albumStrongPersuader, Along asa bonafidesuperstar. theguitarist thefive-timeRayVaughan, with Stevie responsible Crayis largely Crammy-winning '80s eady and forthebluesboomof thelate '90s. fromMagic influences lncorporating Samto O.V Wright,hismusicmightbestbe notassoulblues described but blue soul.Often 1 qr than moreHi Records with his soul Stax , I sounos, Lrayancnors t t n r sm u s rIcn t n eo r u e s \ |' # wffi ,"d I * ff # ls w l t n D l t l n g .v l 0 r a l o / , r a n e h e do rr i t : r l i r k < C r a y ' se x t e n s i v ea n d v a r i e d spiritthathas an independent reveals catalog andhisproductivhisartandcareer, shaped afterhis two decades unabated ity continues blues scene. the international onto exolosion stylehas eclectic musical Cray's Of course, Indeed, LB notalways beenwellreceived. Cray's1992 described criticJimDeKoster I rVasrMarnedas"theblues recording 'chamber jazz'of of theso-called equivalent '50s," "would fit nicelyin thatit adding the NevertheHill'snewagecatalog." Windham an artistwitha musicreflects less,Cray's forthe visionanda disregard determined of others. expectations by someforhispopular Undulychided Crayremains audience, andgentrified success oneof fewbluesartistsof thelasttwo deof thegenre. theboundaries cades expanding Cray(bornAugustl, the57-year-old Today, to followa musethathas 1953) continues Earlier this hisartforover40 vears. driven Crossyearheperformed at EricClapton's andeven in Chicago roads CuitarFestival to a newCDbyjazzguitarist lenthistalents he recently Moresignificantly, LeeRitenour. CrayBandwith original the Robert reformed (a friendsince Cousins bassist Richard Pugh, anddrummer 1969), keyboardistJim andstartedhisown record TonyBraunagel justreleasing thelivecd/dvdpackage label, Cookin'in Mobile. RobertCray'sfatherwas a U.S.army quartermaster, and the familylivedall overthe countryand abroad.Recordalbumsprovided familiarity and had a lastinginfluehce on the "Nobodyplayedany youngster. well-traveled in our family,"notes musicalrnstruments Cray,"but my dad had a prettywide variety of musicthatwe listened to at the house.He was a big RayCharles fan andwe listened to peoplelikeSarahVaughanand a lot of gospel musicon Sundays. My mom was reallyinto the malesingerslikeBobbyGlenn,SamCooke andJackieWilson.SisterRosetta Tharpewas broughtup at somepointsayingthat she was maybea distantrelative or something like that.which I neverreallychecked up on. "l knowthat I paidcloseattentionto musicwhen we livedin Cermanyfor the two and a halfyearswe werethere,"Cray c o n t i n u e s" l. w a se i g h t n . i n e .t e n b y t h et i m e We boughtone of thosebig I left,I believe. Crundigstereos with the shortwave radioand the spindlethat droppedthe 45s.When it was time for us to go to bedjust likeall other kids,you knowthe parentsput on the music and hadtheirfriendsoverandyou weresupposedto be in bedsleeping but you heardthe m u s i cs, o i t k i n do f l i k ed r i l l e di n y o u rh e a d . It was all that goodmusicthat was being played.IDixie]Hummingbirds, Swan5ilvertoneson Sundays, and thenduringthe week it was everything else.My dadwas hugely into RayCharles and at that time in Germany I startedtakingpianolessons." WashingEventually settlingin Tacoma. ton, by his mid-teens, Craywas honinghis guitarskillsin bandswith friendand fellow armybratRichard and the two beCousins, gana lifelongmusicalrelationship. J -ffiCfayBa*d' .&*-**e!s{erist:1*ry . October I 6 . LIVING BLUES 20lO HandyAwards,Memphis,late 1980s. ! ilrunn firnlnnfir[ ilfifi [nnnis llfnlhfir by LeeHildebrand t t{a I tt: "Steakface was a highschoolbandand the only thingthat we reallydid that was associated with blues,we mighthavecovered someFleetwood Macsongsor something likethat.That bandonly playeda few gigs. We stillhavea lot of fansfrom backin thosedaysand that'swhy you who hearaboutit. Steakface includedmy goodfriendBobbyMurray, playsguitarwith EttaJames. We went to highschooltogether. as well so we all kneweachother." as Richard Cousins. Crayand Cousinssoonhookedup with some Justteenagers, and developed a passionfor blues."Our [next]group, oldermusicians playedrock,but we alsoplayedOtis Redding FoghornLeghorn, songs Cray."l don't knowthat we playedany and thingslikethat,"recalls blues,but it was betweenthosetwo bandswherewe werelisteningto MagicSamand B.B.and all that,so I fell in with thoseguys.We just separated ourselves fromeverything elsethat we werelistening to for a whileandjust jumpedinto the bluesbandand startedlistening to all We alsoput togethera bandthat includedBobbyIMurray] the players. and Richard's brother,Butch,playingdrums.We modeledourselves we hadseenhim play.We did the thing afterAlbertCollinsbecause whereI wouldput the guitaroverthe amp-theguitarstrap,likeAIbert did-and comeout afterplayingHip-Hugger by the MCs.We playedlike maybeone beerpartyor something likethat,but that setthe stagefor what we wantedto do." todayas a powerfulfrontmanwith pipesto match, Recognized Crayovercame shyness beforetakingthe reinsas leadsinger."l wasn't alwaysthe leadsingerin anyof the bandsuntilwe startedthe Cray woulddo the Bandand then I startedsinging,"recalls Cray."Richard introduction to all the songsin the earlydaysof the CrayBand,which '74. we startedin ijust-that wasn'tpartof me."[laughs]The Robert c D # f { "Driftin' Producing asElmon Slim" bluesrecords bysuchartists Mickle, Lightnin' Hopkins, andPhillip Walker forVault,Fantasy, in Testament, Playboy, andhisowntinyJolietlabelhadresulted in littlefinancial reward for BruceBromberg duringhisfirstdecade representative thebusiness. Then,in 1978, whileworking asa sales Bromberg sawthe Robert CrayBandforthe forTomatoRecoids, clubcalled thePalms duringa firsttime.lt wasat a SanFrancisco (NAIRD) Record Distributors National Association of Independent wereBrucelglauer of convention. Alsopresent at theperformance andindependent Alligator Records, ScottBillington of Rounder, producer BobPorter. to record Bromberg signedthebandandtookit to LosAngeles Walker, his halfan album's worthof coversongs. WhenDennis producing partner, returned froma tourwithPhillip andsongwriting California musiWalker, thetwo cutCraywitha bandof Southern included four including Dennis on bass. Thesecond session cians, (credited as"D.Amy"), compositions by Cray, oneby Bromberg recorded in 1978, the anda Cray-Bromberg collaboration. Although finished titledWhot album, BeenTalkin',wasn'tissued until1980. lt wasreleased which byTomatoRecords, foldedsixmonthslater. A second Crayalbum, Bad Influenee,cameout in 1983on HighTone Records, a newcompany launched by Bromberg andbusinessman LanySloven. lt contained with the onlytwo covers, remaining eightsongshaving beenwrittenby Bromberg, Walker, Cray,andband members Richard Cousins and MikeVannice.This patternof mixingmaterial by the musicians would continueoverthe next threeCrayalbums, and the producers including1986'sthree-million-selling StrongPersuader. "Theywereon the roadall the time," Walkersaysof the Cray band."When they cameto town, they might haveone or two tunes and Bruceand I might havefour or five. We'd go into the studio 'That's all we got.' Then we'd go home and recordthem and say, afterthe sessionand stayup all night and write anothersongor we two. LikeI wrote PhoneBoothin the middleof the night because didn'thavenothin'elseto recordthe nextday." "Robertwas extremely "He'dsingit quick,"recallsBromberg. in the stuonceor twice,and he'd haveit. Sometimes we rehearsed 'em 'cause the way dio they werealwayson the road.He would get he wanted,and off we went." "He just had it," addsBromberg, with Cray whoserelationship andWalkerendedin 1988."He didn'tmakemistakes. He was an awesomeguitarplayer,and, of course,he had the pipes." Walkerproducedtwo morealbumsfor Cray Without Bromberg, With Shcme+i Sin in 1993,Craybecamehis own producer. . IZ 20lO . LIVING BLUES October ! I CrayBandworked thePacific Northwest scene inside andout,playing barsandclubs fromEugene, Oregon, to Seattle, including places likeLastHurrahs in andKeyLargo "Murphy Portland. andMe'swasa barthat we played a lot in Eugene," remembers Cray. "Weplayed theWild Hog,theWoodmen of t h eW o r l d[ H a l l ] . " Making a nameforthemselves on the burgeoning Northwest bluesscene, which alsoincluded theNighthawks fronted by Curtis Salgado, theRobert CrayBanddeveloped a fortuitous association withAlbertCollins. "Wehadbeenplaying thisclubin Eugene, andtheclubownerasked if wewouldmind backing himup,andwewerealready doing someof hissongs anyway, so it wasgreat." "Albert recalls Cray. camein-realniceguy, youknow.Wejustkindof fellin linewith h i m .T h et h i n ga b o uAt l b e rwt a sw ed i d n ' t really talkaboutmusic. Hedidmention people likeT-Bone andCatemouth Brownand ell iha nannla thrf hp ATBERtr @@rtilNQ r'mg ,Rg'E $ffitr' THE . October I B . LIVING BLUES 20]0 enjoyed, andhetalked aboutO.V Wrightand stufflikethata littlebit lateron. Hewould do hisO.V Wright[imitation] andit would justgetmeallfluttered because I washugely anO.V fan.HewouldsaythatO.V,Wright 'Howyou really melodically. Hesays, talked doin'Albert?lt'sniceto talkto you,'you knowandallthatstufflikethatandyougo. 'Wowl That'sso cool!"' Collins relied on theyoungupstarts "Because whentouring theWestCoast. we wereyounger hewasmoreaboutjustkind of likea dad,father figure to us in thesense askus if we hadspoken thathewouldalways latelyandto letthemknow to ourparents "Wejustteamed howwewere," states Cray. with him up withAlbertandweworked whenever hewason theWestCoastover a period of abouta yearanda half,which I n 3 gaveus somegreatopportunities to playin Seattle, Vancouver, British C o l u m b i aa,n da l s ot h e S a nF r a n c i s cBol u e sF e s t i v ianl ' T T .A g u y n a m e d who was a guitarplayerin CurtisSalgado's Jim Cochran, band,named 'Master him the of the Telecaster."' The PacificNorthwestprovided a steady,if small,scenefor the RobertCrayBand,but a moveto SanFrancisco provedprectpitous. "We camedown in '76,"statesCray."Bobby Murraywas playingwith L i t t l eF r a n k iLee e a, n dw e w e r es t i l ll i v i n gi n O r e g o nB. o b b ys a i d , ' M a n , you'vegot to comedown and we'll put you up and we'll rehearse and we'regoingto getthesegigs,'whichturnedout to be a bunchof jive in the longrun. Butwe camedown in 1976andFrankie put the band together. Bobbywas kindof teaching us Frankre's music,We did a few gigsat the My Club in Oaklandon Eastt4,h.lt was calledFrankie Lee's Bicentennial BluesRevtew featuring BobbyMurray." Soonafter,Crayadoptedthe Fender Stratocaster as hrssisnature Albert Collins,RobertCray,and fohnnyCopeland,t985. I , 3 c F 5 I ilinh $hurmiltt otltnoorditt0 thft$houdoutt! fll[um 2010marks the25sanniversary of theAlligator recording Showdoum! gultarists featuring Robert Cray,AlbertCollins, andJohnny Copeland. Thealbumremains oneof thelabel's all-time best-selling albums and immediately seta newstandard forbluescollaborations. [B recentlv spoke withoneof theproducers on theproject, DickShurman, to get hisimpressions on thislandmark recording. "l think[Johnny] Copeland's management teamcameup with theoriginal concept of a Texas bluesguitarshowdown andpresented it to lAlligator Records owner]Brucelglauer.lt wasgoingto beAlbert,Johnny, andCatemouth Brown,threegreatHouston guitarists. Theydida headline settogether at thefirstmodern Chicago Blues '84, Festival in butCatehadtoo manyrequirements andconditions related project, to therecording so Robert Craywasanointed instead sincehewasa majordisciple of Albert's andshowed thecontemporarysideof thetradition. "lt wasanything buta showdown. I never sawanysignsof justfriendship, rivalry, respect, admiration andcollaboration. Johnny coaxed somedeepTexas bluesoutof Albert,including hisharpplaying on BringYourftneSelfHome, andcontributed someexcellent songsas usual.Robert wasdeferential andquietasusual,butgreat, totallywith theprogram andalsobrought nicematerial. PlusbothBruce lglauer andI enjoyed thechance to workwithouroldfriendandprooucingmentorBruceBromberg, whocamein with Robert.Albertand bothinteracted aspeers andoldfriends andwe hadsomenice Johnny chatsaboutsomeof theobscure Houston catsfrombackin theday, including LittleJoeWashington. Theydida coupledaysof recordingwithoutRobert.ThenJohnny brokehisgoodluckfastwithsome cooked cabbage, torehisstomach up andmissed thenextdaywhen we workedwith RobertandAlbert. "Albert,Robert andI allhadPacific Northwest backgrounds in common, soat onepointwewentto a corner of thestudioandhada commemorative toast.I knewRobert's showandrepertoire well,so it waspretty easyto gethim into hisgroove.I suggested She'slnto (a MuddysongRobertusedto do live)and Something usinghisarrangement of T-Bone (whichhegot Shu/fle fromtheBuddyCuyandJr.WellsAtcoalbum), and BruceBromberg brought TheDream.On thelastdaywe worked withthewholetriumvirate, butJohnny wasstill undertheweather so hewouldliterally liedownin the studiountilit washisturnto singor solo,thenhe'dsit up andexecute. Because of hiswooziness, and Johnny Robert didn'tinteract asmuchoneon oneastheothers, butwasallveryharmonious andI thinkeveryone knew something special wasgoingon. "lt remains oneof thepeakandmostenjoyable fewdaysof mylife,a totalexemplification of teamwork, andoneof theprojects of whichI'm mostproud.It was anunbelievable thrill,andit'sextragreat thatit'ssoldso wellandbeenso highlyregarded overtime.I'mpartial of course, but I'veneverencountered anyof themanysubsequent attempts to recreate thesamespiritthatI feltsucceeded to quitethesamedegree.Robert andI werealreadl friends, butI thinkwehavea lifetime bondbecause of it. I justwishAlbertandJohnny werestillhereto share it, but recordings liveforever andsodoesthatgreatalliance." -MarkCamarigg . l9 October 2010 r LIVING BLUES ffilmflnr$ ffinllalrl$ by LeeHildebrand Cousins Robert CrayandRichard werearmybratswho grewup aroundthecornerfromeacf nearFortLewis, otherin Tacoma, theydidn't Although Washington. friends untilhighschool, become afterbothhadbeenbittenby the bugandboughta guitarand Beatles theywereraised bass,respectively, whereRayCharles in households spunon the records frequently phonograph. Crayand Cousins(who is a yearyoungerthanCray) playedtogetherin rockbandsbeforebluestook hold of theirminds. "He was into it way morethan me whenwe were 18and 19," now 56. "By the timewe startedthe bassist, saysthe Oakland-born 'blue-natics.' We callit now as we affectionately band,we became, werereallydeep.We didn'thardlylistento soulmusic.We listened only to Wolf and Watersand LittleWalterand RobertNighthawk and RobertJohnsonand Elmore James. "Our tasteshad beenvery eclectic,and then we had sort of a puristperiod.Robertwas a straightpurist,and I followedsuit shortly Thenwe bothwent backto beingeciectic." thereafter. Oregon, The RobertCrayBandwas formedin lr974in Eugene, when,to everyone's a memberuntil 1991, and Cousinsremained Crayfiredhim. surprise, "l hadquitea bad habit,"Cousinssaysof the reasonfor his dismissal. Cousinsthen beganplayingaroundOaklandwith his and guitaristBobbyMurray,and soon Cray'sold friendfromTacoma, joinedMurrayin EttaJames'band.The bassistremained with James for threeyearsbeforebeingreplacedby herson Sametto."l taught who citesDuckDunnandJerry somestuff,"saysCousins, Sametto on his own style. as influences Jemmott Afterleaving James,Cousinsmovedto Zurich,Switzerland, wherehe still lives.He hasworkedand recordedthreeCDswith a popularSwissbluessingerand guitarplayerto PhilippFankhauser, whom he was introducedby formerCrayproducerDennisWalker. with lvanNevilleand continues hasalsotouredEurope The bassist bandin Switzerland. to leadhis own oart-time friends. EventhoughCrayhad firedCousins,the two remained stayat Cray'shousewhen in the United Cousinswould sometimes Statesand Crayand his wife at Cousins'Zurichhomewhile in Europe. In late2008,Crayphonedhis old friendand askedhim to hiatus.Cousinssaysthat rejointhe band,thus endingan lS-year a new drummerfor the band.The Cravaskedhim to recommend whom he'd knownthroughhis work bassistpickedTony Braunagel, firstplayed with BonnieRaittandTajMahal.Cousinsand Braunagel togetherin 2006at a Portlandbenefitfor CurtisSalgado,the Cray band, blower.The revamped band'sformersingerand harmonica Pugh,made and longtimekeyboardistJim with Cousins,Braunagel, its recordingdebuton the 2009CD This Timeand appearson the currentCooftin' ln Mobile. o October 20.|0 20 . ttVlNGBLUES instrument, but only afterworkingthrough a numberof otherguitars."l had a Cibson Then I saw Philip ES-345 and an SC Standard. Cuy play.Thatwas a specialevent.lt was in goingin andwatching and I remember Eugene Philipplay.He was playinga Stratand he had and it just hadthe this SuperReverb [amplifier] rightamountof reverbon it and the soundwas just beautiful. lt wasjust cuttingin this room. The roomprobablyhada Iinoleumflooror likethat and it wasjust takingthe something i t a l lo v e rt h e r o o m ,a n di t s o u n da n dp u s h i n g was a Strat.I had beenpartialto Cibsonsfor 'That's it!' I went the longesttime and I said, I ran into a guy in searchof a Strat.Fortunately, '64 Stratalongwith a little who was sellinghis for a sum that was beyond Pignose amplifier my meansat the time,$700and somebucks, to scrapeup the moneyand I but I managed got it. [laughs] lt was a gooddeal!" hd i s b a n df i r m l yo n t h e Having establishe West Coastbluescircuit,anotherearlyhighlightwasopeningfor MuddyWaters."We did likesix showsand on roomdoorbecause on his dressing the firstof them I went and knocked I h a dn e v e m r e t h i m b e f o r ea,n dh e s a y s , ' C o moen i n , " ' r e c a l lCsr a y . back I openedthe doorand thereis Muddy.It's likein thosepictures in thosedays.He hadthe wine redshirton andthe whiteslacksand P i p e r - H e i d s iC e ch ka m p a g naen dh e h a d t h e s u s p e n d e rHse. ' sd r i n k i n g in it to keepthe fizz goingand it was a certainage.you a strawberry role. know.So I hada littledrinkwith him and I playedthe interviewer I just didn'tknowwhat to say.I just startedtalkingto him abouthow it was with [Otis]Spannand LittleWalterand stufflikethat.Then he Mgu d d yW a t e r s s t a r t e tda l k i n ga b o u th i m s e lifn t h e t h i r dp e r s o n , ' Y o u n c o u l dh a v eg i r l so n b o t hs i d e sr i d i n ga r o u n da n da l l . ' W e j u s t g o t a l o n g g r e a tW e d i d o u r s e ta n dt h e nc a m eb a c ka n d l c h a t t e dw i t h h i m s o m e moreand then he invitedme on to sing MannishBoyfor the encore everynight,so that was fantasttc. "Theguywasjust an openbook,"continues Cray."No airsabout him,just open,and he was kindof likemy friend.When we playedour we playedat this oneclubandtherewasa knock showup in Vancouver, knock,knock.'I on the door.l'm backtheretalkingand I hear'knock, C h a r l ePy r i d eC. h a r l e y u p a n d i t ' s d o o r o p e n s i n . ' a n d t h e said,'Come 'You knowI heard the alleyand he says, Pridewasworkinga gigacross this musicplayingand it soundedlikeMuddyWaters.l-sir, can I come in?''Comeon in!' He camein andtheystartedtalkingabouthow they RobertCray and RichardCousins performing at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar testival in Chicago. G rg wereboth raiseddown herein Mississippi and how theyboth went backand they boughttne property. l'm watchingallthis go down.Anotherknockat the doorandanotherguy pokedhis 'That's headin andChadeysays, my guitarplayer. Canhe come in and meetyou, Mr. Waters?' laughslIt was reallybeautiful andjust reallyniceto be aroundMuddyand havethose opportunities. On the lastof the showsoneof hisguitarplayers hadto go to Chicago. Muddy 'Robert said, do you thinkyou canplaysomeof that Muddy Waters-style blues,you know?' So I got to playa completeset with his band,whichwasa gas." The RobertCrayBand's firstopportunity to recordcame in 1978aftermeetingproducers BruceBromberg and DennisWalkerwho hadworkedwith PhillipWalker Theirmusicalrelationship wouldlastthroughthe nextdecadeand beara stringof Cray'sbiggesthits."lt was new" remembers Cray."Bruceand Dennishadseenus the daybeforeat the SanFrancisco BluesFestival and then cameto seeus at the club.Brucewasa westernregional representa'78 tivefor TomatoRecords at that time.We went into the studioin to record for Tomatoand did the recordinglrMho's BeenTa|Irringlin a weekat max.I camein with a coupleof songsandthenwe did somecoversandall that stuff.Thatwasa goodway to buildthe friendship. The recorddidn't comeout until 1980, andthensix monthslaterTomatohadgoneunder. We keptin contactandrecorded againfor HighTone in'82 or'83. Because the bandwasalwayson the road,Bruceand Dennis-Dennrs mainly-wrote a lot of the songs. I helpedon a lot of the musicandsometimes on certain lyrics.Bromberg mostlycamein with lyricsandthenthe bandor myself wouldput the musicto it. Sowe hadthat kindof relationship. "Bromberg especially was big into countryand Walker,too, but Walkerhadalready beenproducing otherpeople,"notesCray."They're big bluesfans,but in the contextof rootsmusic,bluesandcountryare likethis [holdsfingerscloselytogether]. Theycouldgo eitherway as far as who theywantedto presenttheirmusicto or who theyweregoing to writefor.So the songsthat Denniswrote,maybe,Don'tBeAfraid Of TheDark,I think PhilipWalkerrecorded it beforeus.We got into the studioand therewerethesesongsthat they hadon tapeor sheets a n dw e ' dj u s t t a k ea l o o ka t t h e ma n dg o ' y a y ' o r ' n a y . ' S o m e t i im f es we didn'thavethe powerto say'nay'anddidn'thavethe time,we did them |aughslbecause we weremakinga record.Onceagain,it was like you comein fromthe road,got a weekor two, you go in the studio, and we'rebackon the roadagain." And the roadis wherethe RobertCrayBandstakedtheirclaim. Bad lnfluence,recordedfor $7,000as the first release on Bromberg's fledglingHightonelabelin I983,proveda majorturningpoint.The bandweavedhintsof southernsoul,R6B,and evenpop upona blues guitarwork.They foundation solidified by Cray'splucky,vibrato-laden playedtnglandthreetimesand garnered four HandyAwardsin 1984. FalseAeeusationsfollowedand reflecteda rapidlymaturing,hardworkingbandon the cuspof international acclaim. With the breakthough albumStrongPersuader, the band'ssound grewincreasingly moresoulful,aidedby the addrtionof the famedMemphis Horns."The ideaof workingwith the MemphisHorns,you go backto the HighTonerecordsand we recordedStrongPersuaderas a HighTonerecord I Robert Cray and keyboardistJim Pugh,2008. Iirnftl$lt by LeeHildebrand LanyBlake's, a restaurant andclub in Berkeley, on Telegraph Avenue a blockanda halffromtheUniversity of California campus. wasSan Francisco BayAreaheadquarters forthethen-little-known Robert CrayBandduringtheearly1980s. Whentheyweren't working in Blake's basement bar,knownat the Rathskeller, Crayandcompany oftenwoulddropin on Thursdays to hearandon Mondays to jamwiththeRatBand. An ultra-tight guitarist RGBunitledby onetime Musselwhite TimKaihatsu, Charlie thegroupserved astheclub'shousebandandbacked suchvisiting vocalists asJohnnyAdams,LeeDorsey, TracyNelson, andespecially EttaJames. "Wejust lovedthatscene andwhattheywereplaying," RichardCousins saysof theRatBand.Thebassist alsonotesthatBlake's wasa goodplace to "pickup chicks." Overthe nextfewyears, Craywouldpickup a number of musicians fromthe RatBandfor hisown band.Kaihatsu worked ashisrhythmguitarist from1986to 1992. KevinHayes wasCray's drummer from1988to 2008.KarlSevareid wasthe band'sbassist froml99l to 2008.KeyboardistJim Pughjoinedin 1989 andis today theonlyRatBandalumnus stillplaying withCray. Pughwasborn56yearsagoin upstate NewYorkandraised in Chicago, whereheeventually fellunderthespellof pianist Otis Spann. Aftermoving to SanFrancisco in theearly1970s, hebegan hanging outat theStardust Lounge, a Fillmore District barrunby vocalist Dottielvoryandfeaturing LouisMadison, formedy organist of James Brown's Famous Flames. Madison's influence on Pughcan be detected on theonlyCDto appear underPugh's name,Pastel Motif, self-released in 2008.Priorto joiningCray,Pughworked with Rubicon, EIvinBishop, theRatBand, andEttaJames. Hiscompositionshavebeenrecorded by Cray,GuitarShorty, andTowerof Power andhisextensive studiocredits includerecordings withJames, Tommy Castro, theCospel Hummingbirds, Mark JohnLeeHooker, Hummel. Frankie Lee.andOtisRush. Duringhis2l yearc with theCrayband,Pughhasdeveloped almost telepathic onstage communication withtheothermusicians thathelpsmakearrangements created on thespotsoundalmosttoo tightto havebeenimprovised. "lt'scertainly nola jazzquartet, butthere's an aesthetic that is similar, especially with Robert andto a lesser extentwith myself andeverybody else,"explains thetall,lankykeyboardist, who now livesin SantaYnez,California, abouttwo milesfromCray."He's reallymakingit up on thefly.We don'tdo setlists.A lot of what youhear,whenit'ssoft,whenit's loud,is alla matterof listening people. to eachother.lt is a dialogue lt's not a show.Some between nightsit'soverwhelming, andI thinkthat'swhatpeoplepayto see." . 2l Oclober2010 o LIVING BLUES 'l:::'.. :' I . i,lr:1:,ji!:.:tr:. .,t,,:f,i.:,. -\ a $i ? u,buis -:- m \ initially," states Cray."We camein off the road, hada coupleweeks, andwentin andrecorded somesongs, split. Whenwe split.al' thenegotiationsthroughMercuryandstuffweregoing Mercurywantedto boost on with HighTone. Sothen Bruceand the profileof the recording. 'Well let'sgetthe Memphis Horns Dennis said, intotown,'andwe calledthemup andthey broughtthe Hornsin andwe wereout on the we ran road.Sotheywereaddedon, Eventually 'Hey intoWayneandAndrewandwe decided, guys,wellwe'vegot thesesongs. . .' flaughsl andtheyjoinedthe band.flaughslEvenwith the Bad Influencealbumwe'dhad horns.We so hadMikeVannice andWarrenRandplaying, wherewe hadthe sax therehad beensituations on Bad. andwe did ClotTo MakeA Comeback lnfluence.Sowe werein tunewith that kindof music.lt wasa goldenopportunity to workwith WayneandAndrew" With success building. Craysnatched opportunity, teamingwith AlbertColanother linsandJohnnyCopelandon Sftoudorln! for 2 2 . t t V t N GB L U EoSO c t o b e2r0 l O with AlligatorRecords. Thealbumcontrasted HrghTone eflo'tsand proved Crays polisheo 'Durir-g that h e c o r l dt r a d el , c k sw t h a r y o n e recoroing sessiorwhen | firstgorto Ch,cago andA be't and I werestandng outsrde the w a i t i n gf o r J o h n ntyo s h o wu p , I k n e w studro t a dg o n eb a c ki r F o u s t h a t J o h n nayn dA l b e r h t o n b a c ki n t h e ' 5 0 sa n da l lt h a t ,b u t I h a d nevermerJohnnybefore.recals Cray.Johnny o : l l su o a ' d s e t so u t o r t h ec a -a n dh es a l l weakandhe'shangingoverandall thatand 'Hey, Albertwith hisquickwit says, what'sthe marteriAndJohnnysays.I ve beer fasting. t g h e w a sa l lw e a k J o h r n ys a y sh e s b e e nf a s n rnd Alherr-l q rcqqfrnm hpino snnd fr,pnds w a sl i ( eo a t r i n h g m o n t h eb a c ka r d d o i " t g a I thrs.ilaJshslSo we rookall rhatinto the studiobecause Albertstayedon him andwas p i c k i n ag t h i m a l lt h et i m ea n dt r y i n gt o c h e e r l - i n u o a . r dc e rh i ss or i t su o .A n d l m l k e l h e just kindof watchingthis kind Lrttle schoolboy between thesetwo gJysgo on. of re'atonst^ip We tookaLlof that intothe studioandwe just hadfun. I knowthe producers werehappy with that kindof spirit.lt wasgood." L ttle couldhaveprepared Crayfor the few overthe subsequent success he achieved years.Released in Novemberl986,Strong peaked Persuader at #13on the Billboard c h a - r sb e h i n dt h e s i n g l eS m o k i n Q g u na n d n o t a b l ya,l o n g s i dneo o t h e rb l a c kb l u e sa r t i s t s . n u s r cs c e n ec o i n C r a ys r i s eo n t h e A m e r i c am cidedwith the dawnof rapand the pervasive ei s i n f l u e n coef M T V a n dV H - 1 .b u t d e s p i t h p o p u l a r i tbyl,a c kr a d i od i d n o t e m b r a chei s on his success afterStrong music.Refiecting disappointPersuader, Crayacknowledged m e n tt h a th i s m u s i cw a sn o t h e a r do n u r b a n r a d i o". M y t h i n gw i t h i t i s t h a tw i t h m e b e i n g , hy isit that s o m u c ho f a f a no f a l l m u s i cw parents aren'tplayingthe musicfor the kids and how comeit's sucha foreignmusicto all the youngkids?When I firststartedlistening was on the radio.Then to musiceverything '60s, F M r a d i oc a m e a l l o f a s u d d e ni ,n t h e startedto buildon all theseaddout. Formats flnbnn$rau Ul$$outanltu 1980 \lho's BeenTakin? (Laterreleased asToo ManyCoofts)- Tomato 1983 Bad Influmce- HighTone - HighTone 1985 FabeAeausations 1985 Showdotttn!(with AlbertCollins andJohnnyCopeland)Alligator 1986 StrongPusuader Mercury/ Universal 1988 Don'tBe Afrafulof the DorlkMercury/Universal 1990 Midn@ StrcU-Mercury/Universal 1992 I \las tlfarned- Mercury/Universal 1993 Srrame+tr Sin- Mercury/Universal 1995 Sonc Rahy Mornhg - Mercury/ Universal 1997 SweetPotatoPie - Mercury/ Universal 1999 TakeYour SlwesOll - Rykodisc 1999 In Coneert(with AlbertCollins) - Indigo - Rykodisc 2001 ShouldaBeenHome 2003 Time \fill Tetl Sanctuary 2005 Tumty _ Sanctuary 2007 Live FronAcross The PondNozzleAy'anguard 2008 Hve AtTlv BBe - Mercuryi Universal 2009 Thb Timc - NozzleAy'anguard 2010 Authorked,Bootleg:Attstin, Texas 5l25lE7-Mercury 2010 Cookin'In Mobile- Nozzle/ Vanguard edstations. You'dgo intothe record shops andtherewerebinsandall theseformats werestarting to build.People listened to one radiostationandtheyonlyplayed onecertain kindof music, sothatwasn'thelping the situation either. We hadbeengoingto Europe '80s in theearly andwe'dlistento the BBC andtheBBCwouldplayJohnLeeHooker and thenthey'dplayMadonna. | thought [laughs] thatwasgreat. That'showI grewup listening to music.Youdon'tknowthere's no baniers aboutmusic.lf it'sgood,it'sgood.When I listened to the radioCharley Pridewason andthere'd becountryandthere'dbe blues, 'n' rock roll,everything. WhenI firststarted playing musicI wantedto playeverything. lf a songwasgood,I wantedto playit. You learnto dealwith it thesedaysbutyeah,it's disheartening wheneverything is so formattedandeverybandgetspigeonholed intoa certainkindof category, evencategories at whichtheydon'tfit, theydon'tbelong. When yougo to record binsthesedaysyou'llsee popular RGBsingers in thebluescategory andtheydon'treallybelongthere.Soit'sall messed up."fiaughs] With the platinum success of Strong Perstmder, Craybecame a hot commodity guesting beyond thebluesgenre, on rockand popalbumsby the likesof EricClapton and TinaTurner. Morenotably, Crayappeared on JohnLeeHookeisThe Healerin 1989, offering a punchysoloon thetrackBabyLee. Thecollaboration sparked a friendship that lasteduntilHooker's deathin 2001.Cray "Wejust lookedup to JohnLeelikehe recalls, wasoneof us,although hewasyearsolder. That'stheonethingI likeaboutmeeting all thesemusicians. Theynevergrowup,you know?Theynevergrowup. Ageis whatsets youapartbutthat'stheamountof timethat you'vebeenon earth.Butdeepdowninside everybody isjusttheseyoungsoulsyou pullingyouback.John know?Ageis always wasa kid-helovedlife. "lt wasjust amazing to meto seehow manyfanshe hadandallthesehangers-on around womenaround John-always John allthetimeandlikea youngmanhealways talkedabouthisexploits or whathewishedhe coulddo afterhegotoldet"Crayexpounds. "That's whatJohn wasalways about.Hewas funny.Hewasalways talkingaboutit andhe'd always havehishandandtryingto whisper in yourearandtellingyousomekindof anecdote or somekindof jokeor something likethat. Hewasjustfunto bearound. WhatI loved aboutJohn working in thestudiois hedidn't liketo do too manytakes. You'dhearit on 'Thank you,fellows,'you therecords. Hewas, know.lt's likejust oneor two takesandthat wasit eventhoughpeoplewantedhimto do more.I lovedthat-straight to thebusiness. I waseventalkingwith theotherguystheother day,thewaywe metJohnandsomeof the with Althingswe learned, because we played bert[Collins], we hadthechance to playwith Muddy, butJohnLee's bluesarecompletely different-14-bar blues-that kindof thing.The . 23 October 20,|Oo LlVlNcBLUES firsttimewe playedwithJohn,me and Richard werestanding on stageand he didn'ttell us what keyhe was in, whichisn'tso bad.but when you don't know that he'sgoingto play l4 barsthat'sa wholeotherstoryl " l ' l l t e l ly o u a n o t h etrh r n g . a' d d sC r a y . "[Hooker's] Coastto CoastBIuesBand-tightest bandin the worldbecause theycould playthosebarswithoutdroppinga beatat a tempounknownto man.Butthe thingwas Johnwas playingthis l4-barbluesand then doing somethinglikeI CouerThe Waterfront. 'Robert, Johnwouldcomeup to me and go, you know I knowwhat I m doing. So he did his bluesthe way he wantedto. but he could do bluesin the regular format.He knows exactlywhat he'sdoingl" '90s The early markedchanges in the RobertCrayBand.Crayfiredlongtimebassist Richard Cousinsin l99l andthe band'sstudio outputincorporated everything from Chesserastyledbluesto samba-esque rhythms.The bandand Craybeganwritingmostof their own material and Crayhimselftook the reins as producer on his albums.ln 1997Sweet Potato Pie presaged an evendeeperforay into Memphissouland the R&Bof Cray's childhoodrecords. The guitarist established his soulfulintentions recording the discat ArdentStudiosin Memphisand,onceagain, . October 24 . ttVtNGBLUES 20lO incorporating the MemphisHorns.Additionally,Cray'svocalprowessreflectedhis oft-citedvocalinspiration, O.V Wright.Cray once listedWright'sNucteusO/Soul as one of his desertislanddiscs."l just lovedthose ballads-the way he approached the ballad," statesCray."What got to me was the way that he approached the songsespecially in a balladwherehe was strictlyfromchurch, the way he grewup and all.The way he approached a balladwouldbe the sameway that ArchieBrownlee approached a songin FiveBlindBoys.I meanhe startedoff nice and easyand by the trmeit crescendos at the end,I meanit was likethat was it and that's the way O.V did. Yeah,hejust tookyou with him. That'swhat I enjoyedaboutO.V. "l guesssomething wasbuiltinto me listening to all the gospelmusicthat I did growingup." Craynotes."Thatwas my attraction to O.V Wright. lt sayson one of the back of his recordshow he'sa masterad libberor something to thateffect.I just lovedhisapproachand I lovedthe way he took his time to getyou into the storyand takeyou with him. He was differentthan SamCooke.SamCooke hadan amazing voice,but he dancedmelodicallyall throughthe lyricof the songandO.V Wright wasjust down in it." laughsl Leaving Mercuryand movingto Rykodisc furtherfreedCrayto crafthis artisticvision. ln 1999Take Your ShoesO// provedCray's masteryof the soulsoundsalwayslurkingin his musicand pickedup the 2000Crammy for BestContemporary BluesAlbum.Famed producer Willie Mitchellprovided Hi Records horn arrangements andco-wrotethe sultry Mitchell, LoueCloneTo Waste.Recalling Craystates,"Williecameout to Nashville when we wererecordingTake Your Shoes Olf.We alsowent to his studioin Memphis and workedwith him up thereaswell. He producedthe songLoueQone7o V/aste.We h a da l lt h e h o r n sW . e h a dJ i m H o r na n dJ i m Spakeand a bunchof catsplayingon that Williecame in the hornsection.I remember in and he hadthis goldtop and goldpants SteveJordan and it was just great.IProducer] 'Papa c a l l e dh i m W i l l i e .I' r e m e m b ehri m sittingon the boardin the studioin Nashville were and listening to how the arrangements 'Yeah, yeahthat'sit.' You goingand he goes, know it was reallyexcitingto be working with him.We alsodid this littlesceneand this songcalledV/hatAbout Me and it has thesebreaks whereit's kindof a clubscene and theseglasses areclinkingand all that,so on we got Willie.Willie is in the background that too." Iaughsl soulsounds,Cray Movingbeyondclassic beganminimizing hornsfor moreexpansive sounds, including the electric sitaron 2003's Time tMill Tell. Morestriking,however,were Craysovertlypolitrcal lyricsaboutthe lraqWai. "lt wasthe buildup, Hestates, to the lead-in the war in lraqandthosesongswerewritten beforethe war actuallystartedor maybewhen it just hadhappened. wrotethesong JimIPugh] DistantShore.and I wrotethe songSuruiuor. and it wasall the BSthatwas goingon about the buildup,andyou figure,you know,it was aboutthe oil so that'swhatwe wroteabout.I you know hadto makethat statement because therewasjustallthe bullshit on it." Yetthe bissestchanseof the lastdecade was breaking up his longtimebandin October 2008and startingover.lt startedwith a p h o n ec a l lt o h i so l d f r i e n dC o u s i n s".R i c h a r d is the originalfbass]playerin the bandand we maintained a closerelationship overall ' thpseve:rs Cr2vsi2tpq" Richard would 'Man, you c o m ei n a n ds e et h e b a n da n dg o , guyssuck.'Iaughsl Richard is fly. Richard doesn'tholdanythingback.He tellsus when there'sa lot of movement and stuffgoingon in the bandand stufflikethat. "Overthe years,I thoughthow nice it wouldbe to haveRichard comebackand "l tossedit playin the band,"Craycontinues. aroundin my headfor a whileand I thought aboutit for a longperiodof time and then I madethe decisionto do that.Then I thought maybeI'd liketo do a wholerhythmsection change, whichwouldbe a majorshakeup. with the same We'd madea bunchof records bandand I thoughtmaybelet'stry something different. So I calledRichard andwe talked a b o u it t a n dh e s a i d , ' Y e a" h . The reformed RobertCrayBand,with keyboardist Jim Pughand new drummer TonyBraunagel, immediately clickedand got to work on This Time, the first albumon "We hadfun Cray'sown NozzleRecords. and we put togetherChickenln TheKitchen," enthuses Cray."Thatto me hasa littletaste of the old and it's kindof modernin the same respect with the way the lyricis." Morethan ever,the RobertCrayBand remains a collaborative effort."When we knowthatwe'regoingto go into the studio, everybody startsthat process of bringingin t h e m a t e r i awl ,r i t i n ga, n dt h a t k i n do f t h i n g and I encourage it," declares Cray."l could writeall the songs,but we lookat makinga recordas a bandeffortin the sensethat you knowwe'reall goingto be playingthis stuff andwe'llgeta goodvarietythat way.The bandthingis importantbecause it keepsa focus on the music.Otherwise it wouldjust be me and a coupleof sympathetic kindof guys just ploddingalong.We would liketo keep the bandkindof thingtogether and the / focuson the bandand music." lt/ ,r B L U E.S2 5 O c t o b e2r0 l 0 . L I V I N G